GENEVA (AP) — Confidential medical data of several prominent U.S. Olympians was hacked from a World Anti-Doping Agency database and posted online Tuesday.
Among the Olympians whose information was posted are gold medal-winning gymnast Simone Biles and seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams. WADA (WAH’-dah) said the hackers were a “Russian cyber espionage group” called Fancy Bears. A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected WADA’s statement blaming Russian hackers as unfounded.
Williams issued a statement via her agent in which she said she was granted Therapeutic Use Exemptions “when serious medical conditions have occurred.” She added that those exemptions were “reviewed by an anonymous, independent group of doctors, and approved for legitimate medical reasons.”
USA Gymnastics issued a statement saying Biles was approved for an exemption and had not broken any rules. Biles wrote on Twitter that she’s taken medication to treat ADHD since she was a child.
(Copyright (c) 2024 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)